Life Isn't Fair, But It Beats the Alternative
by Karos
Summary: Leslie's on the road with Stacy, trying to get away to think...but when you're on Earth 616.5, NOTHING'S easy...
1. Let's try this again

A/N: Couple things you should know.  1) I hated the ending to Holy War, so it's totally different here.  2) Before I said that LSTF took place after Rogue got her powers back.  Changed that, so it took place before she lost them.  Doesn't affect anything in the first story continuity-wise.  3) I may make some minor changes along the way, but remember, this IS an AU.

            Leslie blinked.  She blinked again.  Nothing changed.

            "Um…Stace?  Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm relatively sure this isn't Chicago…"

            Stacy rolled her eyes.  "What's the harm in enjoying the country along the way?"

            "I'm pretty sure that Oak Ridge, TN doesn't count as the country.  In fact, I have to say that I don't think this counts as ANYTHING…"

            "Think of it as a pilgrimage.  The birth place of the atomic bomb has to have _something_ to do with mutation.  Right?"

            Leslie rubbed her eyes behind her sunglasses.  "Stacy, you didn't even know the atomic bomb was made here until we found the sign.  You didn't even know where we _were_!"

            Stacy waved one hand at her while flipping off some gawking humans with the other.  Despite Leslie's suggestions, she hadn't bothered to cover herself up much more than usual.  Her one concession was a pair of jeans.  "Alright, I _may have got us on the wrong bus, in my hurry to leave."_

            "Stacy!  What the hell are we going to do in Oak-freaking-Ridge?!"

            She shrugged.  "How should I know?  I'm getting a sandwich."  Stacy wandered off to hunt for a Subway.  

            Groaning, Leslie buried her face in her hands.  "Why me?" she demanded.  "Don't I _ever get a break?!"_

            "Can Ah help ya, ma'am?"

            She looked up, startled, to see a blonde man standing there, hands jammed in his pockets like a little boy.  "Do you have a sledgehammer I can beat myself over the head with?"

            He looked startled, then grinned.  "Nope.  Sorry."

            "Damn.  In that case, afraid not, unless you want to hear me complain about my insane roomie."

            He smiled again, blue eyes sparkling.  "Ah think Ah can do tha'.  Sam Guthrie," he said, extending a hand.

            Leslie was suddenly grateful that her sunglasses hid her eyes, so he couldn't see them widen.  Made sense, though.  He'd felt vaguely familiar, and she'd wondered why.  Now she knew it was because she'd felt the residue of his presence at the mansion.  "Anna Jacobs," she said, taking his hand in her own briefly before dropping it.  "Tell me you know a place where I can get a cup of coffee.

            He shook his head.  "Sorry, but Ah'm jes' passin' through mahself.  Ah saw a nice Chinese place, though, if ya'd like tha'."

            She shrugged.  "Why not?  Lead on, Sam Guthrie!"

            Sam laughed again, extending his elbow.  Slipping her arm through it, Leslie walked with him, chatting about insignificant things such as the weather.

            Once they were seated, Leslie decided to satisfy her curiosity.  "So, Sam, what are you doing in beautiful Oak Ridge?"

            He nodded, placing his napkin neatly in his lap. "Ah'm meetin' some…friends, an' Ah jes stopped here for a rest.  You?"

            She rolled her eyes.  "My roommate and I are moving to Chicago.  Being the genius that she is, though, she got us on the wrong bus.  It's not funny," she said sternly when she noticed he was about to start laughing again.

            Sam sobered slightly.  "Ah'm sorry, jes' that mah own life gets so crazy, things like that seem so…normal."

            She narrowed her eyes, deciding to have a little fun with him.  "What do you do that you're life is so crazy?" Leslie asked innocently, taking a sip of her drink.

            Sam froze, and was thinking over what to say when a gunshot was heard.  Leslie whirled to see a group of masked men enter the restaurant, one holding a gun to a waiter's head.  "For the preservation of humanity, we need you to donate your valuables!" he yelled, turning so she could clearly see the F.O.H. on his jacket.

            She looked briefly at the ceiling.  _Don't I EVER get a break?!?!_


	2. No rest for the wicked

_            Prejudice.  Pre-judging.  Judging someone or something before you know them.  Nasty word, really.  Of course, we're all guilty of it.  When we see people, we instantly make assessments of them.  She's kind, he's depressed, etc.  Sometimes, it can even be good._

_            Now's one of those times._

_            See that girl there?  Blonde, twenty-something (*cough* not!), oh so cute?  That's me, Leslie Corring.  Currently going by Anna Jacobs and living with a hooker.  Long story.  Involves me traveling to an alternate dimension and finding out I'm a mutant empath with a tendency to melt people.  I try not to think about it too much.  It makes me question my sanity._

_            See the guys with the guns?  They're the F.O.H.  Friends of Humanity, a group that doesn't like mutants much.  Right now, I'm being prejudiced.  I'm assuming that they don't want to buy me a cup of coffee.  Sam, the blonde Green Acres extra next to me, is a mutant too.  Bet ya five bucks he's thinking the same thing._

_            Now that you're up to date, I'm going to do something incredibly stupid.  Here's hoping I don't screw up!_

Leslie bit her lip sharply, bringing tears to her eyes, then let out a stifled sob.  Immediately, one of the gunman was at her side.

            "Don't worry, ma'am.  We're out to protect our race, not harm it.  As long as you cooperate, you don't have anything to fear," he soother.

            She reached up behind her sunglasses, wiping her eyes.  "I-it's not that," she sobbed.  "There's…there's a _mutant_ in here!"

            Sam's eyes widened and his grip on the table tightened at the same time the gunman put a protective arm around Leslie, waving the gun wildly.  "Where?!"

            "Why," she said calmly, voice steady now as her hand moved from behind her glasses and took them off, "right here."  Ignoring his and Sam's surprise, she reached out, taking control of the emotions of the three F.O.H. men.  "You don't really want to do this, do you?" she asked softly.  _~Love…for me, for mine…guilt…yup, lots of guilt…~_

            They shook their heads rapidly.  "No, no, no…"

            "Good.  You like me, don't you?"  Nods.  "Then could you do me a favor?  Go call the police and turn yourselves in.  Okay?"  Rapid nods as they hand the guns to the terrified waiter and ask to use the phone.

            Smiling, Leslie winked at the stunned Sam as she replaced her glasses.  "Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Guthrie, but I think this is my cue to leave.  I do hope to see you again.  And the way the world is, I don't doubt I will.  Do give Rogue my regards when you see her next."  Whistling, she walked out with her hands in her pockets, grinning as Sam was stopped from exiting behind her by the police.  The same police who were all _positive there was no reason to stop the blonde woman from leaving.  __God, I love mutant powers._

            Realizing that they could only stop Sam for so long, she hurried off in the direction Stacy had taken, not noticing the white-haired African-American woman, nor her albino-pale companion any more than they noticed her.

            "Les?" Stacy asked cautiously after being forcibly dragged out of Subway and back towards the bus station.  "Did I miss something?"

            "There are X-Men here.  One, at least.  Cannonball.  We need to leave."

            Stacy immediately became serious.  "The next bus doesn't leave for ten minutes still…we'll get on now, sit low."

            The two women walked briskly, restraining themselves from running.  The tickets were already bought, allowing them to hurry on, shoving the pieces of paper in the driver's face.  

            Leslie sighed, running a hand through her hair as she slumped into her seat.  "THAT was more stress than I needed…"

            Stacy laughed.  "C'mon, what are the odds we'll run into another X-Man?"

            Leslie relaxed, allowing her taught muscles to unwind.  "Yeah, I guess you're right…what are the odds?"


	3. Interlude 3: Interviews!

A/N:  OKies, something a lil' different here.  Despite the rushed feeling, LSTF actually covered a bit of time.  During that time, Leslie had some…adventures.  While leaving Les-er, Anna on the bus to stew a bit, let's take a look at one in particular…Why?  Cause this idea hit me in the middle of the night and won't leave me alone until I write it, stupid muse.

Cable (my muse): I told you I'd get you back for the Oedipus remark

Me:  And I told YOU I'd right the damn fic if you kept it up!

*crickets chirp*

Me: Much better.  

Disclaimer

Enter This Deserted House

By Shel Silverstein

But please walk softly as you do.

Frogs dwell here, and crickets too.

Ain't no ceiling, only blue

Jays dwell here and sunbeams too.

Floors are flowers—take a few.

Ferns grow here, and daisies too.

Woosh, swoosh—too-whit, too-woo,

Bats dwell here and hoot owls too.

Ha-ha-ha, hee-hee, hoo-hoooo,

Gnomes dwell here and goblins too.

And, my child, I thought you knew

I dwell here…and so do you.

            Leslie grinned at Julia.  "Ready?"

            "We're going to get expelled!" her friend hissed.

            "For what?  A documentary?  I don't think so.   C'mon, all you have to do is hold the camera and not laugh too hard."

            "I still wish you'd tell me what you were asking them…"

            Leslie smiled sweetly at her.  "Just trust me on this one."

            Sighing, Julia hefted the camera, unscrewing the lens.  "I wonder if my old school is accepting mutants…"

            ::black screen fizzes with snow before settling on picture of Leslie::

            Leslie:  Today we're going to get to the truth of various rumors here at the Xavier Institute for Mutant Menaces-

            ::Leslie is thwapped on the head by Julia's hand::

            Leslie:  Dammit, Jules, that hurt!  ::mutters unintelligibly before smiling:: Moving right along, we come to our first victim-I mean, guest, Bobby Drake!  Say hello, Bobby!

            ::Camera focuses on Bobby, who is holding a piece of toast halfway to his mouth, still in Batman pajamas, with tussled hair::

            Bobby: …Leslie, what are you doing?

            Leslie:  Just dispelling some rumors, my good man!  All you have to do is answer a few simple questions.

            Bobby:  ::cautiously:: Okay…

            Leslie:  Cool.  Question One: are you, or are you not, gay?

            ::Bobby proceeds to spray toast on everyone present, including a VERY attentive Jean-Paul::

            Bobby:  WHAT?!

            Leslie:  Just a simple yes or no will do.

            Bobby: NO, I'm not GAY!!

            Leslie:  Ok.  Question two: are you bi?

            Bobby, who is now thumping his head against the wall:  NO!!!

            Leslie, unperturbed:  Question three: have you seriously not noticed Jean-Paul's crush on you?

            ::both Bobby and Jean-Paul turn interesting colors::

            Leslie:  ::nervously:: I'll take that as a no…quick, Julia, stop the tape!!

            ::tape blacks out.  There is a pause before it focuses on again on a disheveled Leslie::

            Leslie:  Note to self: do not tell scary Popsicles scary elf-men have crushes on them.  Anyway, moving right along, we now come to the ever elusive Wolverine!

            ::Julia is heard muttering frantic prayers in the background as Logan glares at them::

            Logan:  What the hell is this?

            Leslie:  …a documentary?

            Logan: …

            Leslie:  Um, let's cut to the chase.  1: are you secretly in love with either Cyclops or Kurt?

            Logan: …

            Leslie, noticing the way his knuckles are flexing: So that's a no…2: have you ever considered a relationship with Jubilee?

            ::SNIKT::

            ::Leslie grabs the camera as she runs::  

            Leslie:  due to unforeseen circumstances, this interview will be cut short.  For God's sake, Logan, I'm SORRY!!

            ::the black is back, before fading to an even-further disheveled Leslie::

            Julia: Why do we keep doing this?

            Leslie: So we can sell the tape to the media and escape to the Caribbean.

            Julia:  Oh, right.  I forgot.

            Leslie:  And now we've tracked down Prof. X, the big man himself!  Mind if we ask you a few questions?

            Xavier:  Not at all.  Yes, no, no, yes. ::walks off::

            Leslie stares after him in horror:  Oh, man…

            Julia:  What were the questions?

            Leslie, reading from paper:  1: were you ever romantically involved with Magneto, 2: did you REALLY not know Proteus was your kid, 3: did you get a strange kick out of the spandex, and 4: is Magneto still alive?

            Julia, after matching answers and questions in her head:  Ewwwwwww!!!

            Leslie, shaken:  I think…we'll stop here for now.  Oh, God, I need to scrub that image out of my brain…


	4. Crystal Dreams

A/N: I'm SO sorry this took so long, and is so short.  I've had papers to write, and codes to debug, and life just got in the way.  I'll be more regular, I promise.  I hope.

            Leslie breathed a sigh of relief as bus pulled away, slumping further in her seat.  "Thank God that's over."

            Stacy laughed.  "Kid, you've gotta relax."

            Leslie simply stuck out her tongue.  "You're no help, you know, running around half-naked."

            She shrugged.  "I like my clothes."

            Leslie sighed.  "You're impossible," she muttered as she turned on her side, drifting off to dream of blue demons…

            Ororo furrowed her brow.  "And you say this woman knew Rogue?"

            Sam, frustrated, ran a hand through his short hair.  "All Ah know is she did somethin' ta those morons, and told me ta say hello ta Rogue fer her.  That's it."

            Sage glanced coolly at them as she walked up.  "I ran the name she gave Sam.  There is no record anywhere of Anna Jacobs."

            Ororo pursed her lips together.  "Rogue and Remy have not yet returned from their trip, so there is no way to ask them…Perhaps we should bring this matter to Xavier…"

            Sage stiffened.  "After the events of our last visit, I doubt he'll be of much help."

            Storm raised one eyebrow, thinking.  "Perhaps…"

            Leslie was in the in-between, the place where she was aware of the dreams of others, but not in them.  She was surprised to find that Kurt was asleep at this hour, his dream as easy for her to find as her own.  Hesitantly she entered it, her stomach twisting at the sites that surrounded her.

            It was bleak, like a not-quite-dry painting that had had water poured over it.  He was in the center, a haze of sorrow around him.  Her heart broke to see him like this.  And yet…and yet, even now, she didn't know if she loved him.  She berated herself for her indecision even as she went to him, wrapping him in her arms.

            Kurt let out a small gasp of surprise before pulling her to him, covering her with kisses.  

            Leslie's eyes widened.  This wasn't what she'd expected…Gently, she disentangled herself from him, eyes sorrowful.  If she didn't leave now, she wouldn't be able to…Ignoring his heart-wrenching expression, she kissed Kurt's forehead gently before quickly leaving.

            _If this is all a dream…then why does it hurt so much? She wondered, shedding non-existent tears as she left._

            Leslie jerked awake, wiping her face quickly so Stacy couldn't see the tear marks, then cleared her throat.  "Where are we?"

            "Virginia," Stacy replied absently, reading a magazine. "You've been out for a while.  Good sleep?"

            Leslie sighed as she rested her head against the cool glass of the window.  "…Yeah.  Good sleep."


	5. Darkness Falls

AN:  sorry sorry sorry!! My mom was diagnosed with cancer…and my comp's been annoying…I'm so sorry…

Leslie sat in the McDonalds, picking miserably at her salad, unconsciously spreading a feeling of gloom throughout the restaurant.

Stacy had gone…well, she didn't really know where Stacy had gone, but she didn't really care, either.

She tossed the tray into the trash, then slowly left the building, her own personal cloud of doom going with her.  She stuffed her hands in her coat pockets, warming them.

A freak cold-snap had hit Virginia, annoying to its inhabitants who wanted to enjoy the end of summer, but fitting Leslie's mood perfectly.  She wandered, head down, not really caring where she went, eventually ending up in a park.

Leslie made her was to the swings, sitting down on one.  It was too low, making her long legs bend sideways so she could fit, and the medal chains holding it up were cold, burning her skin, but she barely noticed.

He had cried.

Kurt had been in pain…needing her…and she'd left him.  

Her hands curled into fists, nails digging painfully into her palms.  

"Why can't it just be easy?" she shouted suddenly, voice cutting into the silence.

No answer…but she could have sworn the blackness, ever present now, hanging like fog around her being, laughed.

"I don't want to DO this anymore!" she roared at the trees, startling a robin.  "I'm tired!  I want to go home and forget this ever happened!"

Her black eyes narrowed behind the sunglasses.

"WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME?!"

Her anger became real and solid, burning into the poles holding the swing melting.  She quickly stood, leaving the collapsing set behind her, running senselessly into the nearby woods.

She didn't know why she was doing this…she wanted to be alone, REALLY alone, away from everyone else and their petty emotions that drowned her day by day.  She wanted to curl up in her mother's lap again, to let her dad read her to sleep.

She wanted to go home.

_But there's Kurt…_

She angrily squashed the voice inside her.  "I don't want to care," she whispered as she ran.

Not paying attention caught up with her, as Leslie tripped over a root of a tree she hadn't noticed.  She lay sprawled on the ground, unmoving, heaving with sobs that she'd held in for far too long.

"Why?" she whimpered, to a God that she felt had left her.  "Can't you just…make it all go away…"

No answer.

And the blackness laughed.

*Another chapter this weekend…it's different from this…it involves Storm…so I made them separate*


	6. Prompted Thoughts

A/N: First of all, thanks, everyone, for your kind words about my mom.  She had surgery to remove the cancer, and the doctors believe they got it all out and she'll be fine.  Here's hoping!!

Ororo waited outside Xavier's office, unable to stop herself from remembering that there had once been a time, not so long ago, she would have been able to enter whenever she wanted.  Once…She shook her head as his door opened and rose to meet him.

"Ororo," Charles said, surprise evident in his voice.  "I didn't expect to see you so soon, with the events surrounding our last parting."

"Neither did I," she admitted, entering his office and sitting in the chair he gestured to.  "But we've come across something that might be your concern…or, to be more precise, someone."

He sat up a bit straighter.  "I'm listening."

"Sam came across a young woman, names Anna, in Tennessee who was not only a mutant, but claimed to know Rogue.  She also seemed to be aware of the fact that he was a mutant.  Have you had any dealings with her?"

A strange look crossed his face.  "What did this woman look like?

Ororo's brow furrowed as she thought.  "Tan, I believe he said…short blond hair…"

Charles shoulders drooped slightly at that.

"…and completely black eyes."

His eyes lit up.  "So it is her," he murmured, fingers tapping lightly together as he thought.

"You do know her, then?"

He hesitated.  "…Yes.  Her name is really Leslie.  She was a student here, and left without notice after suffering rather traumatic events."

Ororo's brow lifted.  "Such as?"

Xavier's face slid shut.  "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss that with anyone not affiliated with the school, Ororo."  The words may not have been meant to hurt, but they did so, none the less.

She nodded, standing smoothly.  "Then I suppose that I should leave."

He merely rose, holding the door for her.  "Ororo," he stopped her suddenly, hand lightly on her arm.  "I must ask you not to mention this to Kurt."  At her glance he continued.  "She and he were…involved, to put it delicately.  He's been quite upset with her leaving."

Ororo nodded slowly before slipping out, finding the nearest window and taking flight.

She needed to think…about many things.


End file.
